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As the Australia-Indonesia relationship shifts away from aid and development, and as the Asia-Pacific region continues to prosper, it is inevitable that business ties will take a bigger place in the spotlight. We will see closer collaboration between large Australian and Indonesian businesses, penetration of SMEs, and investors on the hunt for opportunities. However, entrepreneurs in both countries believe it is still difficult to convince individuals to invest across the border, find the right talent and cut through the red tape.

The next generation needs to understand the investment climate, bilateral trade opportunities, and cultural nuances of doing business in both countries. This cannot be taught at universities and can only come from substantive, on-the-ground experience and learning from those that have experience in the field. Simon Collier Dixon, Director of Astra International, one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates, believes the relationship is not where it needs to be and doing business across borders is difficult. Young professionals need to begin engaging early to create long-lasting friendships which are important in business relationships. Simon will be sharing his experiences as keynote speaker at the CAUSINDY gala dinner.

When Tommy Tjokro of Bloomberg TV Indonesia realised how vibrant the Indonesian economy was becoming, he jumped on the opportunity to immerse himself in the investment opportunities. Tommy will be moderating the Economics and Trade panel, discussing the next growth drivers, how the government and private sectors can collaborate more closely, and how business will be pursuing these new opportunities.

Sinthya Roesly, Chief Executive Officer of the Indonesia Infrastructure Guarantee Fund (IIGF), works at the heart of the partnership between government and business and is responsible for developing an area which is critical to Indonesia’s growth – infrastructure. Sinthya will provide her views on the investment climate and how public-private partnerships can be scaled up by collaborating more closely with technical advisers like Australia.

The big Australian businesses in banking and mining have already made headway in Indonesia, while real estate and agriculture are trending business areas among Indonesia’s elite in Australia. The next step is getting small-medium enterprises to engage in the bilateral relationship by finding new markets and leveraging talent. The first step is creating a positive regulatory environment in which these businesses can grow. This is something that Sati Rasuanto, Managing Director of Endeavor Indonesia, is passionate about. SMEs provide people with jobs and will help transform Indonesia’s economy from low productivity industries like agriculture to higher value-add services like e-commerce and technology. In addition to her current role at Endeavor, Sati will be drawing on her previous experience as Chief of Staff to Gita Wiriyawan. As part of CAUSINDY’s political debrief panel, she will be talking about the policy decisions the incoming government needs to make to foster this growth.

As the bilateral relationship is slowly finding its feet, moving away from aid and development towards commerce and trade, we need to ensure that skills, understanding and experience continue to grow. The next generation should be able to understand how to engage in long-term, sustainable business partnerships and this year CAUSINDY will provide 30 young delegates with that opportunity.

We’re excited to open up a limited number of additional places for the general public to join this year’s panel on Portrayals in the Media, featuring Fairfax’s Michael Bachelard, PortalKBR editor Citra Dyah Prastuti, Tempo’s International Editor Purwani Dyah Prabandari,
Dr Ross Tapsell and moderated by news anchor and journalist Beverly Gunawan, SCTV/Liputan6.

Panellists will discuss the role played by mass media and social networks in shaping public opinion, the role of major media outlets in influencing election outcomes, and the growing importance of social media for election campaigns.

The event will take place at 4pm on Sunday, September 14, at a location in central Jakarta to be confirmed next week. To express your interest in this event, please register using our online form. Places are available for the first 100 attendees to register, so get in early!
We’ll be providing free artisan coffee by One Fifteenth and other snacks for guests to enjoy before the 4pm start.

Speakers

Michael Bachelard, Indonesia Correspondent at Fairfax Media

Michael Bachelard is the Indonesia correspondent for Fairfax media, publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. Prior to his posting to Indonesia worked as a political reporter and workplace relations writer for 24 years

In 2005, Michael was awarded a Jefferson Fellowship. He is also a Walkley and Quill award-winning journalist. The Walkley awards recognises excellence in Australian journalism and the Quill awards, reward excellence in Victorian journalism.

Michael is the author of two books. His most recent book ‘Behind the Exclusive Brethren’ is a non-fiction book focusing on the sect ‘Exclusive Brethren’ in Australia. Michael is a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) graduate from the Australian National University.Follow @mbachelard

Citra Dyah Prastuti, Editor of PortalKBR.com

Citra Dyah Prastuti has been a journalist with KBR (Radio News Agency) for more than 10 years. Starting out as a reporter, then editor, producer and broadcaster for live talk shows, news bulletins and an magazine show. In 2005, she pursued her Master’s degree in Critical Media and Cultural Studies in SOAS, University of London through the Chevening scholarship. She blogged extensively about her life while studying in London and in 2010 published her online stories in a book titled “Cheers, UK!” (Gagas Media).

In 2011, she received a fellowship from the ABC’s Radio National to produce a radio documentary, exploring the life of a woman and the reality of family planning in West Java in “Eros, Mother of 25 Children”. Tthe following year, her one-hour radio documentary “Timor’s Lost Generation” was broadcast by Radio National. She also teaches radio investigative journalism at the University of Indonesia and provides training for the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and Indonesian Association for Media Development (PPMN). She now leads the online platform of KBR, PortalKBR.com.Follow @citradp

Dr Ross Tapsell, Lecturer at Australian National University

Dr Ross Tapsell researches the media in Indonesia and Malaysia. He was a recipient of the Australian Government Endeavour Postdoctorate Award, where he conducted research on press freedom and media ownership in Indonesia.

He has been a Visiting Fellow at The University of Indonesia, Airlangga University (Surabaya) and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (Jakarta). He has also worked with The Jakarta Post and the Lombok Post.

Ross began lecturing at the School of Culture, History and Language in 2011. His book, By-Lines, Balibo and the Bali bombings: Australian journalists in Indonesia, will be published in 2014.

Purwani Diyah Prabandari, Journalist at Tempo

Purwani Diyah Prabandari is a journalist of Tempo International Media, a publisher of Tempo magazine (Indonesian and English) and Koran Tempo daily. During her time at Tempo, she has been involved with the politics and international sections. Previously she also spent her 3 years as bureau chief in Bandung dan Yogyakarta in 2007-2010.

She is the recipient of several fellowships including Journalism and Democracy Course by Centre for Democratic Institute in Australia (2000) and Medialink Fellowhip, a journalist exchange program by Asialink in Australia, 2004. She also a fellow of International Visitor Program to the USA by USIA in 1997 and Senior Journalist Seminar of East West Center, US, 2009. Prabandari holds a bachelor degree of International Relations from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

CAUSINDY is pleased to announce that Colin McDonald QC, retired Australian barrister, will be speaking at this year’s conference.

Colin has engaged with Indonesia for more than 30 years, beginning in 1983 with a tax conference in Bali. Since then he has defended Australian inmate Scott Rush on Indonesia’s death row, been a founding member of the Australia-Indonesia Institute and supported exchange programs for Aboriginal, Javanese and Balinese artists.

With all these experiences, Colin has built many personal relationships outside his professional sphere as a criminal defence lawyer, and changed the lives of many individuals he has met along the way.

Colin will share his perspective on what it takes to build friendships which can endure the “ups and downs” of the bilateral relationship. Colin believes that young leaders have a responsibility to use their influence, follow their passions and create a positive impact in their community.

About Colin McDonald

Colin McDonald QC is a retired Australian barrister, Indonesian art and South East Asian ceramics collector, founder and owner of the Made Budhiana Art Gallery in Ubud, Bali and an aspiring Kintamani organic coffee producer in North Central Bali. Colin practised as a barrister in North Australia for over 30 years with a broad practice in administrative, criminal, constitutional law, workers’ compensation, refugee and human rights law. In recent years he acted in the death penalty cases in South East Asia, including for two members of the Bali Nine, Scott Rush and Renee Lawrence.

Colin has had a long association and engagement with Indonesia. A founding member of the Board of the Australia Indonesia Institute from 1989 – 1994, Colin was also counsel in Australia to the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Department for over 20 years. As Chair of the Northern Territory Museums and Art Galleries Board, he arranged for Indonesian artists to come paint and exhibit in the Top End of the Northern Territory.

As Chair of the Royal Darwin Hospital Board and its Regional Engagement Committee, Colin helped broker the very successful Sister Hospital Relationship and nurse, medical and emergency response training programme between R.S.U.P Sanglah in Denpasar, Bali and Royal Darwin Hospital. In 2010, Colin was awarded the prestigious Law Council of Australia’s President’s Medal and in 2011, the Australian Lawyers’ Alliance Award for his outstanding contributions as a lawyer. In December 2013, Colin was appointed an advisor to the Australian Federal Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Colin is an avid bird watcher, being member number 29 of the Bali Bird Club and is now actively engaged in planting bird feeding trees, organic Kintamani coffee, cloves, avocadoes and native Balinese teak in north central Bali.

Devianti is a former journalist with Indonesia’s broadcasters, Metro TV and Televisi Republik Indonesia, and Voice of America-Indonesia in Washington DC. Among her most memorable assignments was her coverage of the plight of young Indonesian boat crew members who were detained in Australian prisons after being deceived by human traffickers.

She has interviewed key public figures including Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Devianti believes that Australian and Indonesian bilateral relations will be able to further grow under President-elect Joko Widodo’s leadership. “Unlike the older elite politicians, Mr. Widodo is seen as a humble man who holds a different perspective of governance and takes on a different approach to problem solving various social and economic issues. With this, the prospect of having a renewed and flourishing relationship between Australia and Indonesia exists in the future,” she said.

“In one of the Presidential Debates, Mr. Widodo has even proposed to build a better government, business and community ties with Australia through educational and cultural exchanges. But in order to build stronger ties, both countries need to treat each other with respect and properly address some hot button issues that if left unattended could fester and potentially harm future ties, including wiretapping allegations and asylum seekers issues.”

About Devianti Faridz

Devianti Faridz is Channel NewsAsia’s correspondent in Jakarta. She is a former journalist with Indonesia’s broadcasters, Metro TV and Televisi Republik Indonesia, and Voice of America-Indonesia in Washington DC. Among her more memorable assignments was her coverage of the plight of young Indonesian boat crew members who were detained in Australian prisons after being deceived by human traffickers. She has interviewed various key public figures in the world including Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

She is a Fulbright scholar and a Master of Arts in Broadcast Journalism graduate from the University of Missouri, USA. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Communications Design from Indonesia’s Trisakti University. For leisure, Devianti Faridz is actively involved in alumni activities that encourage cultural exchange and youth empowerment.

CAUSINDY looks forward to welcoming Jim Della-Giacoma, who will be speaking on the Defence and Security panel at this year’s conference.

With his expertise in the South-East Asian region and experience across several different roles, we look forward to the insight and contributions Jim will bring to this year’s panel. Jim’s most recent research and writing has been related to Indonesia’s elections and democratisation process.

About Jim Della-Giacoma

Jim is currently a visiting fellow in the Department of Social and Political Change in the School of International, Political and Strategic Studies at the Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific.

In the last two decades, Jim has been a Reuters correspondent, UN official, and head of the International Crisis Group’s operations in Southeast Asia while based in Jakarta. He has studied Indonesian at Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana in Salatiga and taken part in the Australia- Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP) in Jambi in 1991-92.

A brief account of his time on AIYEP “Different Pond, Different Fish” was published in KYD Journal in April 2014. He is a regular commentator and essayist whose opinion pieces over the years have been also been published in CNN GPS, Crikey, Foreign Policy, Indonesia, The Lowy Interpreter, New Mandala, Nikkei Asian Review, Strategic Review Journal, and World Politics Review.

We are pleased to announce that John Riady and John Denton will be taking part in CAUSINDY 2014 in a special debate which will explore everything from doing business in Indonesia and Australia, to navigating politics and attitudes towards investment. Both Johns have experience in the government, private and educational sectors, which will make for very interesting insights during the debate.

Mr Riady is Director of several companies across the media, property and investment industries, including Berita Satu Media Holdings, Lippo Group and as Editor in Chief of Jakarta Globe. He is also a prominent figure in higher education as Dean of and Professor of Law at Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH). CAUSINDY delegates can look forward to unique insights from Mr Riady on what it takes to build and run successful businesses in Indonesia.

As CEO and Partner of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Mr Denton has been involved in shaping the Australian Government’s policy on how Australia engages with its neighbours as an advisor on the “Asian Century” White Paper. He is also well versed in doing business in Indonesia and visits Jakarta regularly in partnership with Indonesian law firm Soemadipradja & Taher. Mr Denton was a speaker at CAUSINDY last year in Canberra where he entertained the audience with stories on negotiating trade deals and trying to solve humanitarian issues. We look forward to welcoming Mr Denton back to CAUSINDY in Jakarta.

About John Riady

John Riady is an Indonesian lawyer, professor, social entrepreneur, and businessman. He is currently Dean and Professor of Law at UPH (Universitas Pelita Harapan) Faculty of Law, one of Indonesia’s leading universities; Editor at Large of the Jakarta Globe, an Indonesian English language newspaper; Director of Berita Satu Media Holdings, a diversified Indonesian Media Conglomerate; and Director of the Lippo Group.

Born in New York City, John spent his early childhood in the United States, before returning to Jakarta at the age of four. John was educated at Georgetown University where he majored in Political Philosophy and Economics. He also received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business–graduating as a Palmer Scholar–and a Juris Doctor from Columbia University Law School.

John is also a member of the NY Bar Association, and serves as Chairman of KIKAS-KADIN (the United States Committee within the Indonesian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry), member of the Columbia University Law School International Advisory Board, and the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council.

About John Denton

Partner & CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, John is a global leader in three arenas; a legal expert in the areas of government, workplace relations, and international trade and investment; a national business leader and an international adviser on global policy.

John is one of three Prime Ministerial representatives on the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC); a Board Member of the Business Council of Australia (BCA); a Board Member of Asialink and Asia Society; Chairman (emeritus) of the Experts Group on Trade and Investment in Indonesia; Chairman of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Australia for more than a decade (among other important positions).

John was also an external adviser on the Federal Government advisory panel that oversaw the development of the ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ White Paper released in October 2012 and a member of the Australian Government Cabinet sub-committee for the Asian Century White Paper review process. He is now a member of the Strategic Advisory Board advising the Government on implementation of the White Paper and on emerging policy issues.

He is recognised as one of the best labour law practitioners in the Asia Pacific by Asialaw Leading Lawyers Survey and one of Australia’s best government and trade lawyers in the Best Lawyers peer survey.

With great pleasure CAUSINDY welcomes Fauzi Ichsan, managing director, senior economist and head of government relations at Standard Chartered Bank in Jakarta to speak on the Economics and Trade panel session.

Fauzi’s expert knowledge and services on economics extends far beyond Standard Chartered clients. In addition, he provides economic and market views to the Vice President of Indonesia, Minister of Finance, Bank Indonesia Governor and parliamentary commission XI on banking and finance.

Fauzi Ichsan believes it is important to identify and differentiate the various types of relationships between Australia and Indonesia. He classifies three main types of relationships: government-to-government relationships, business-to-business relationship as well as people-to-people relationship.

“The government-to-government relationship fluctuates in political disuse, however the people-to-people relationship is very strong and it has been getting stronger in the last 20 years or so.

“Because the political relationship between Australia and Indonesia isn’t good, it doesn’t mean that Indonesian’s stop sending their children to Australian universities, likewise it doesn’t mean that Australians stop going to Bali.

“So, the relationship between people-to-people and business-to-business is always stronger and steadier than the government-to-government relationship,” Fauzi Ichsan said.

CAUSINDY is looking forward to hearing more of his unique views on the bilateral economic and trade relationship between Australia and Indonesia!

Today, we’re excited to announce that Michael Bachelard, Indonesia Correspondent for Fairfax Media, will join this year’s panel on portrayals in the media. Currently based in Jakarta, Michael is a Walkley and Quill award-winning journalist with extensive experience covering politics and industrial relations.

Despite decades of official engagement, the Indonesia-Australia relationship remains underdeveloped. The media on both sides of the ocean has a role to play in addressing this by making realistic, considered portrayals of both countries. But media alone can never be enough. The only way to build real relationships is through the work of ordinary people” Mr Bachelard said.

About Michael Bachelard

Michael Bachelard is the Indonesia correspondent for Fairfax media, publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. Prior to his posting to Indonesia worked as a political reporter and workplace relations writer for 24 years.

In 2005, Michael was awarded a Jefferson Fellowship. He is also a Walkley and Quill award-winning journalist. The Walkley awards recognises excellence in Australian journalism and the Quill awards, reward excellence in Victorian journalism.

Michael is the author of two books. His most recent book ‘Behind the Exclusive Brethren’ is a non-fiction book focusing on the sect ‘Exclusive Brethren’ in Australia. Michael is a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) graduate from the Australian National University.

CAUSINDY is thrilled to announce Prodita Sabarani, the Jakarta editor of The Conversation will be speaking at ‘Transforming the relationship’, a special Q&A event. She will be joining Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Senior Advisor to the Vice President of Indonesia and Professor Tim Lindsey, Chairman of Australia-Indonesia Institute, to form a very exciting and insightful panel.

In 2011, Prodita Sabarini received the Australian Development scholarship to study a Master’s degree in Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of New South Wales. Her time in Sydney saw her work featured in The Australian, New Matilda, and broadcast on Sydney’s 2SER.

She believes forming stronger people-to-people links is the key to strengthening the bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia.

“The relationship between Australia and Indonesia should move beyond issues that are driven by State interest. We should instead focus on personal relationships that can build understanding between the two cultures and foster partnerships that would benefit the peoples of the two countries. Many Indonesians and Australians see each other as strangers divided by language, culture and borders. If we can see past the differences, there are great potential in partnerships in different areas such as education and research; arts and culture; as well as human rights and social justice,” Prodita Sabarini said.

Prior to her role now, she worked as an investigative reporter for the English daily newspaper, The Jakarta Post. Prodita’s experience in reporting human rights issues has landed her the title as the 2013-2014 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. The fellowship by the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is a program dedicated to “promoting international understanding of human rights and social justice while creating an opportunity for women journalists to build their skills.”

As the Elizabeth Neuffer fellow, she has been an associate researcher at MIT’s Center for International Studies. She also attended classes in Harvard and MIT to study the root causes of religious intolerance and violence. Part of her fellowship also saw her contribute to The Boston Globe and The New York Times.

CAUSINDY looks forward to drawing from her expert knowledge on human rights and social justice at the special Q&A event, ‘Transforming the Relationship’.

The CAUSINDY team is excited to announce that Professor Tim Lindsey will be returning to CAUSINDY in 2014, joining our special Q&A event, ‘Transforming the Relationship‘. Professor Lindsey is arguably Australia’s foremost expert on Indonesian law, and a high profile advocate for a broader and deeper bilateral relationship.

Interested in hearing Professor Lindsey speak? Applications to become a delegate to CAUSINDY 2014 are now open.

About Professor Tim Lindsey

Professor Tim Lindsey is Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and founding Director of the Centre for Islamic Law and Society at the University of Melbourne. He is also chair of the Australia-Indonesia Institute, an advisory board within the DFAT and was a member of the Reference Group for the National Asian Languages and Studies in School Program. In 2006, Tim received a Carrick Teaching Awards Citation for his work with international students and in 2007 the Malcolm Smith Award for Excellence in Teaching. A founding editor of The Australian Journal of Asian Law, he has written extensively on Indonesia.

His publications include include Indonesia: Law and Society; Corruption in Asia: Rethinking the Governance Paradigm; Chinese Indonesians: Remembering, Distorting, Forgetting; and Law Reform in Developing and Transitional States. In 2012, he published a three volume series Islam, Law and the State in Southeast Asia (I: Indonesia, II: Singapore; III: Malaysia and Brunei), andThe Indonesian Constitution: A Contextual Analysis.